Rinzai 48

Not even for a fraction of a moment does he aspire to Buddhahood. And why? An old master said: “If you seek the Buddha by karmic actions, the Buddha will become a great symptom of birth and death.”

Commentary:

‘Not even for a fraction of a moment does he aspire to Buddhahood’ means that the true man of the Way never attaches himself to the illusion of Buddhahood since he is firmly confident that he is Buddhahood itself. However, to those who pursue enlightenment, Buddha, the true-Self, the Emptiness and Oneness can sound so attractive and tempting that a lot of practitioners are deluded by the illusions of them. ‘Seek the Buddha by karmic actions’ means to seek the Buddha by doing good deeds whilst believing that the Buddha is somewhere in the universe. This is a good example of being deluded by the illusion of Buddha. That’s why the Buddha becomes a symptom of birth and death which are illusions. So, ancient masters would advise their students to kill the Buddha if they met Him so that they might prevent their students from being attached to such illusions.